Catholic News

• Harris leads Trump among Catholic voters, poll shows (EWTN)
  Vice President Kamala Harris enjoys a substantial edge over former president Donald Trump among Catholic voters, according to a poll conducted by EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research. In the survey of 1,000 self-identified Catholic voters, 50% said they planned to vote for Harris, agains 43% for Trump, with the remainder undecided. Harris led Trump in every age group, and rolled up large margins among Hispanic (60-30%) and female (56-37%) voters. Harris also led Trump among those Catholics who reported attending Mass weekly. But among the 3% who attend Mass daily, Trump is a heavy favorite, by a 55-30% margin. When asked which political issue they consider most important, the Catholic voters most frequently mentioned the economy, with immigration issues second. Slightly less than 10% mentioned abortion, with religious freedom and gender ideology each listed by 1%. When asked which candidate they had supported in the 2020 election, the survey respondents picked President Joe Biden over Trump by 47-42%.
• Pope arrives in Papua New Guinea (CNA)
  Pope Francis arrived in Papua New Guinea in the early evening of September 6 (local time), beginning the second stop of his 12-day foreign voyage. The Pontiff was greeted by Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso at the airport of Port Moseby, the nation’s capital. He will remain there for three days—making a side trip to Vanimo—before continuing on to East Timor. Papua New Guinea has a substantial Catholic population: about 30% of the country’s 8.2 million people. The nation was last visited by a Roman Pontiff in 1995, when Pope John Paul II presided at the beatification of Peter To Rot, who died a martyr during World War II.
• Pope Francis bids farewell to Indonesia (Vatican News)
  Pope Francis departed from Indonesia on September 6 (video of farewell ceremony). It was the first of four nations on his itinerary during his apostolic journey to Southeast Asia. During his visit to Indonesia—the world’s fourth most populous nation, with more Muslims than any other country—the Pontiff took part in a quiet arrival ceremony praised the nation’s interreligious harmony warned clergy and religious not to impose faith as they proclaimed the Gospel met with Jesuits discussed diversity and unity with young people joined the nation’s Grand Imam in calling for interreligious harmony preached that God’s Word is ‘the only true compass’ said that the sick and poor are the treasures of the Church Pope Francis now travels to Papua New Guinea, a western Pacific nation of 9.8 million (map). The country is 57% Protestant and 32% Catholic, with 3% adhering to ethnic religions.
• 31% of US Catholics attend Mass weekly, new survey finds (Catholic World Report)
  Only 31% of American Catholics attend Sunday Mass on a regular basis, according to a new EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll. The survey found that 41% of self-identified Catholics attend Mass only once, or a few times, in the course of a year. On the other hand, 12% attend Mass two or more times a week, and 3% attend Mass daily. (The same survey showed American Catholic voters leaning toward Vice President Kamala Harris over former president Donald Trump in the US presidential campaign. See today’s separate CWN headline.) Only 16% of those surveyed said that they go to Confession at least once a month. Most of those surveyed (61%) said that they go to Confession once a year (19%), even less frequently (24%), or never (18%). When asked whether they believed in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, a bare majority (52%) replied in the affirmative; 16% were unsure; 32% did not believe. In one more hopeful sign, the poll showed that young Catholic adults were more likely to attend Mass frequently than those in older age groups. 17% of those between 18 and 29, and 22% of those 30-39, went to Mass more than once a week. That figure was only 6% for those 40-49, 7% for those 50-59, 9% for those 60-69, and only somewhat higher (13%) for respondents over the age of 70.
• Indonesian police arrest seven in plot on Pope (Crux)
  As Pope Francis left Indonesia on September 6, authorities there revealed that they had arrested seven people in connection with a reported plot on the Pope’s life. The government announced that the seven suspected were detained on September 2 and September 3, in three different cities, for “threats in the form of propaganda or terror threats via social media.” A government spokesman declined to say whether those arrested where all involved in the same plot, explaining that an investigation was underway. Unnamed sources in Jakarta said that some of the suspects, at least, had been involved in previous terror attacks.
• Ukraine official says Orthodox body must sever ties with Moscow (Pillar)
  The head of Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience says that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) must break off ties with the Patriarchate of Moscow or face a legal ban under the terms of a new national law. Victor Yelenskyi denied that the law is intended to outlaw the UOC, and said that the legislation will allow the UOC to continue. However he stipulated: “The only requirement is to sever ties with the Moscow Patriarch, who is actively involved in propaganda supporting the war against Ukraine.” The UOC has historically been affiliated with the Moscow patriarchate—unlike the rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which has won recognition from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople as an autonomous Orthodox body. However UOC leaders have distanced themselves from Moscow since the Russian invasion. The new law allows the UOC a 9-month period to demonstrate that it has ended its affiliation with Moscow. If that deadline is not met the government could take action to outlaw UOC activities.
• Irish government abuse inquiry: 50 alleged abusers at Brothers of Charity school (Irish Times)
  An Irish government inquiry into abuse allegations at religious-order schools found that a disproportionately high number involved schools for disabled students. 2,395 allegations of historical sexual abuse (1927-2013) involved 884 alleged abusers in 308 schools. 590 of the allegations, lodged against 190 alleged abusers, involved 17 schools for disabled students (p. 6). 166 of these allegations were made against 50 alleged abusers at a school for the disabled run by the Brothers of Charity in Glanmire, Ireland.
• Religious broadcasters sue IRS over rule limiting political speech for nonprofits (CNA)
  The National Religious Broadcasters Association has filed against the IRS, in a challenge to the constitutionality of the Johnson Amendment. The amendment to US tax law, sponsored by then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson in 1954, denies tax-exempt status to nonprofit corporations, including churches, that “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” The National Religious Broadcasters Association, joined by two Texas churches, argues that the law “thereby silences their speech, while providing no realistic alternative for operating in any other fashion. Churches have no choice; they are automatically silenced vis-à-vis political candidates.”
• Vatican announces symposium on popular movements (Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development)
  The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has announced that it will host a symposium to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Pope’s first address to popular movements. The event, entitled “Planting a flag in the face of dehumanization,” will take place on September 20, and is cosponsored by the Encuentro Mundial de Movimientos Populares (World Meeting of Popular Movements). In his 2014 address, Pope Francis emphasized the “three t’s” (tierra, techo, and trabajo, or land, housing, and work), which has become a theme of his teaching: This meeting of ours responds to a very concrete desire, something that any father and mother would want for their children – a desire for what should be within everyone’s reach, namely land, housing and work. However, nowadays, it is sad to see that land, housing and work are ever more distant for the majority. It is strange but, if I talk about this, some say that the Pope is communist. They do not understand that love for the poor is at the center of the Gospel. Land, housing and work, what you struggle for, are sacred rights. To make this claim is nothing unusual; it is the social teaching of the Church.
• Pakistani priest arrested for threatening to kill bishop (UCANews)
  Father Naveed Thomas, formerly the pastor of a parish in Chak Jhumra, Pakistan, has been arrested after he allegedly threatened to kill his bishop, Bishop Joseph Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad. The priest “started hurling abuse at the bishop, took out a pistol, and threatened to kill him,” according to the bishop’s security guard. Bishop Rehmat suspended Father Thomas in February after the priest was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman and arranging for an abortion.
• Corporate brands retreat from gay-rights index (Wall Street Journal)
  Several major corporations have stopped providing data to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an LGBTQ advocacy group, for its Corporate Equality Index. “The companies didn’t elaborate on why they highlighted HRC in their announcements,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “Some of the companies said they would stop sharing data with HRC after they had been targeted by social-media activist Robby Starbuck.”
• Venezuela's Maduro declares Christmas begins in October (CNA)
  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that the Christmas season will begin on October 1, saying that his decree is motivated by “homage and gratitude” to the country’s people for re-electing him. Maduro’s re-election has been hotly contested, with angry demonstrators charging that the election results were fraudulent—a claim that international observers have backed. Nevertheless Maduro promised an early Christmas season of “peace, happiness and security.” The Catholic bishops of Venezuela reacted to the presidential decree with a statement that the Christmas celebration “should not be used for propaganda or particular political purposes.” The bishops pointed out that the Church’s liturgical calendar offers Advent as a preparation for Christmas.
• Pope, Indonesian Imam join in call for interfaith harmony (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Francis visited the Istiqlal Mosque in Indonesia on September 5, and there joined with the Grand Imam H. Nasaruddin Umar in a joint declaration calling for inter-religious harmony. “The values shared by our religious traditions should be effectively promoted in order to defeat the culture of violence,” the statement said, emphasizing the need for dialogue and mutual respect. In his remarks, Pope Francis called attention to the “tunnel of friendship” that connects the mosque with the cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. The underground tunnel, he said, is both a place where people of the two faiths can meet and a symbol, pointing to “the one root common to all religious sensitivities: the quest for an encounter with the divine, the thirst for the infinite that the Almighty has placed in our hearts, the search for a greater joy and a life stronger than any type of death, which animates the journey of our lives and impels us to step out of ourselves to encounter God.”
• Pope discusses diversity, unity with Indonesian young people (Vatican News)
  Pope Francis met with 200 Indonesian young people associated with Scholas Occurrentes during his apostolic journey there. The Pontiff was able to step into a large sculpture of a polyhedron made by 1,500 young people. (Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has used the image of the polyhedron to discuss his vision of globalization.) The Pope listened to testimonies from young people and responded, “If we were all the same, that would be boring. Difference can give rise to war, or to dialogue—we have to choose. War is always a defeat, but discussing with your friends—that’s a beautiful thing, that can make you grow.”
• At Mass in Jakarta, Pope says God's Word is 'the only true compass' (Vatican News)
  At a Mass in Jakarta on September 5, Pope Francis said that the two fundamental characteristics of Christian life are listening to God’s Word and living that Word. Although he was not the principal celebrant of the public Mass, the Pontiff delivered the homily, and said that the Word of God is “the only true compass for our journey.”
• New UN report documents 'severe deterioration' of human rights in Nicaragua (United Nations)
  The UN Human Rights Office has published a 17-page report on human rights abuses in Nicaragua over the past year. “Religious freedoms in Nicaragua continued to be subjected to undue restrictions, according to the report,” the Office of the Human Commissioner for Human Rights stated. “At least 27 Catholic priests and seminarians were arbitrarily arrested between October 2023 and January 2024. A group of 31 clergymen were expelled from the country after being detained for various periods.” The Office’s statement continued: Authorities have also revoked the legal status of many religious organizations, as part of a wider trend of arbitrary cancellations of NGOs’ legal status. During the reporting period, over 300 organizations, including those defending women’s rights, had their status revoked. In August 2024, a further 1,700 organizations were shut down in the most severe blow inflicted to civil society, bringing the total number of dissolved organizations to over 5,000 since 2018.
• Majority of Gen Z Catholics in US are Hispanic (USCCB)
  54% of Gen Z Catholic adults and 50% of millennial Catholic adults in the United States are Hispanic, according to data released on September 4 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The USCCB’s report defined Gen Z adults as those born between 1997 and 2005 and millennials as those born between 1981 and 1996. The 17-page report includes a map of percentage of Hispanic/Latino Catholics by diocese (p. 9) and other information about the Hispanic population of the United States and Hispanic ministry. 4,479 out of the 16,279 parishes in the United States have Masses in Spanish, according to a survey recently released by the bishops’ conference.
• Jihadist militants on motorcycles attack Nigerian village, kill over 100 (Voice of America)
  Members of the jihadist Islamist organization Boko Haram attacked a village in Yobe State (map), Nigeria, killing over 100. The massacre comes a week after a massacre of hundreds of civilians in Burkina Faso, part of the ongoing Islamist insurgency in the nearby Sahel. Pope Francis condemned the Burkina Faso massacre on September 1.
• 3 million pilgrims expected for India's 'Lourdes of the East' pilgrimage (La Croix)
  Three million pilgrims are expected to travel to the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Velankanni, India, in the days preceding the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8). Last month, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote a letter, “ The love of Mary at Vailankanni,” paying tribute to Marian devotion there.
• Pope sees the sick, the poor, as treasures of the Church (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Francis said that the sick and the poor are the true treasures of the Church, as he met on September 5 with recipients of the work of Catholic charities in Indonesia. Recalling the words of St. Lawrence, who had presented the poor of Rome as the Church’s treasured wealth, the Pope told his audience of needy people: “You are shining stars in the sky of this archipelago.”
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